Thursday, December 10, 2009

Two weeks on (swale work)

Click for bigger.

Two weeks ago we put a swale in and remarkably we have had regular good rain since. This much rain is very unusual for this time of year. It has spurred me on to build more food beds and other functional things (such as an all-weather path running down to the chooks) along the swale. I'm building next door and was able to use the leftover concrete mix (stone and sand) for our new path, laying it on piles of old newspaper. Tonight it rained again, and I was able to capture the swale holding water. It poured down, the swale filled up and over about 30 minutes the rain absorbed into the ground and under the thick mulch.

4 comments:

farmdoc said...

Very impressive, PJ. A bit like keyline ploughing for the home garden. What fun you're having there channeling (pun intended) your creativity. xx

Permapoesis said...

yes, mr yeomans in the 50s made an impression on holmgren and mollison in the 70s. it is quite remarkable how much water we have harvested in 2 weeks. i can't quite believe how well this works. here is yet another example where art is lead by nature, in other words the form of the garden is dictated by the contour of the land. enjoy your weekend fd.

Tony-General store said...

That's Brillant P.J
really great images and above description,
when I was a kid my dad, who was seen as an eccentric, built a run off that just went down the side of our crazy block along the fence line to stop torrential rain from getting into the house, the water fed into the storm water drain.
But our block would have been a perfect example for a swale..Oh what Dad could have done!!!
It was the 70's and we were too busy building a skate bowl and a half pipe out the back than thinking of swales, now I read this and just think BRILLIANT
All I do is plan for my future lot
You guys are an inspiration.

Permapoesis said...

cheers tony,

cheek this out:

greening the desert